Delivery of cellular network insights to subscriber devices to subscriber devices through ssid via cellular system information block

ABSTRACT

Network insights may be useful in various communication networks. For example, certain cellular or similar networks may benefit from the delivery of cellular network insights to subscriber devices through service set identifier (SSID). A method can include detecting, by a device, at least one advertised value of non-cellular access, wherein the at least one advertised value is received by the device over a cellular system information block message. The method can also include extracting, from the at least one advertised value, at least one cellular network insight for a cellular network condition.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims the benefit and priority ofPatent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Patent Application No.PCT/EP2014/069585, filed Sep. 15, 2014, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. This application is also related toand claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/175,676 filed Jun. 15, 2015, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Field

Network insights may be useful in various communication networks. Forexample, certain cellular or similar networks may benefit from thedelivery of cellular network insights to subscriber devices throughservice set identifier (SSID).

Description of the Related Art

The use of mobile wireless devices for sending and/or receiving data isincreasing. At the same time, the delivery of video data is consuming alarger and larger share of available wireless capacity, both because ofthe popularity of video and because video applications inherentlyconsume relatively great amounts of data.

Various techniques such as media optimization and adaptive streamingservers promise to significantly increase system capacity and videoquality in wireless networks such as third generation partnershipproject (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) networks. For example, mediaoptimizer and adaptive streaming servers can manage downloading of videoto user equipment, such as a camera phone, smart phone, tablet computer,media play with wireless capability, or the like, just in time to beplayed. Such an approach may avoid waste of resources when a userabandons a video before the video is complete, because the approach canavoid transferring data that will never be used.

A user may frequently experience a gap in coverage or impaired coverage,so that under some circumstances video will be not be available at themoment it is needed. Delivering data before it is needed, which may bereferred to as pre-filling data, can avoid interruption or degradationof video quality. This discussion will be presented primarily in termsof video data, but the mechanisms described here may be applied to anycircumstances in which data is delivered as needed in order to usetransmission capacity efficiently, but in which conditions are evaluatedto determine whether data should be delivered before it is immediatelyneeded.

The need for pre-filling of data can vary based on the particularcircumstances of a user equipment (UE). In addition, turning to theexample of video data, much video data can be configured so as to beplayable only by a single UE, as in the case in which video is encryptedwith a key provided only to a single UE or a few UEs, or in the case inwhich digital rights management (DRM) is used, so that video isconfigured to be transferable only to a single UE.

If video data is to be reliably delivered, however, accommodations mayneed to be made for areas experiencing poor coverage or significantloads, interfering with the ability of a UE to receive data just in timefor playback. Under such circumstances, the UE may benefit fromreceiving data during times when it may be efficiently delivered, sothat the data can be available for playback during a period of slow orno delivery. The control if video transfers can be related to networkknowledge sharing, or the sharing of network analytic insights.

Data analytics insights are transforming various industries by linkingthese insights with decisions. Network infrastructure can generatenetwork insights, for example, from the evolved node B (eNB), RadioApplications Cloud Server (RACS) and customer experience manager (CEM).These types of insights can be useful to many devices or elements of thenetwork. For instance, this type of information can be useful to mobileapplications also known as apps. An app may be considered to be aself-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfill aparticular purpose, for example as downloaded by a user to a mobiledevice. Apps on mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, otherportable computing devices, etc.) may make many decisions, using nuancedand rapidly changing app knowledge.

SUMMARY

According to certain embodiments, a method can include detecting, by adevice, at least one advertised value of non-cellular access, whereinthe at least one advertised value is received by the device over acellular system information block message. The method can also includeextracting, from the at least one advertised value, at least onecellular network insight for a cellular network condition.

In certain embodiments, a method can include detecting a first level ofnetwork congestion on a cellular network. The method can also include,in response to the detecting of the first level of network congestion,transmitting a non-cellular identifier related to non-cellular access,wherein the non-cellular identifier comprises a basic service setidentifier value over the cellular network, wherein the basic serviceset identifier value encodes the first level of network congestion onthe cellular network.

An apparatus, according to certain embodiments, can include at least oneprocessor and at least one memory including computer program code. Theat least one memory and computer program code can be configured to, withthe at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to detect, fora device, at least one advertised value of non-cellular access, whereinthe at least one advertised value is received by the device over acellular system information block message. The at least one memory andcomputer program code can also be configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus at least to extract, from the at leastone advertised value, at least one cellular network insight for acellular network condition.

An apparatus, in certain embodiments, can include at least one processorand at least one memory including computer program code. The at leastone memory and computer program code can be configured to, with the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus at least to detect a firstlevel of network congestion on a cellular network. The at least onememory and computer program code can also be configured to, with the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus at least to, in response to thedetection of the first level of network congestion, transmit anon-cellular identifier related to non-cellular access, wherein thenon-cellular identifier comprises a basic service set identifier valueover the cellular network, wherein the basic service set identifiervalue encodes the first level of network congestion on the cellularnetwork.

According to certain embodiments, an apparatus can include means fordetecting, by a device, at least one advertised value of non-cellularaccess, wherein the at least one advertised value is received by thedevice over a cellular system information block message. The apparatuscan also include means for extracting, from the at least one advertisedvalue, at least one cellular network insight for a cellular networkcondition.

In certain embodiments, an apparatus can include means for detecting afirst level of network congestion on a cellular network. The apparatuscan also include means for, in response to the detecting of the firstlevel of network congestion, transmitting a non-cellular identifierrelated to non-cellular access, wherein the non-cellular identifiercomprises a basic service set identifier value over the cellularnetwork, wherein the basic service set identifier value encodes thefirst level of network congestion on the cellular network.

A computer program product can encode instructions for performing aprocess, according to certain embodiments. The process can be any of theabove-described methods. 100161A non-transitory computer-readable mediumcan be encoded with instructions that, when executed in hardware incertain embodiments, perform a process. The process can be any of theabove-described methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For proper understanding of the invention, reference should be made tothe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a data structure according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a further data structure according to certainembodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an additional data structure according to certainembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates further data structures according to certainembodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates thresholds in connection with certain embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain embodiments relate generally to wireless communications and morespecifically to controlling or assisting the sending and/or retrieval ofdata, such as video data, by user equipment from a wireless networkwhile the data is used by the user equipment. Embodiments may generallyrelate to communications systems, such as wireless communicationsnetworks, and may specifically relate to mechanisms for performing thisassisting by delivering network insights to a device, such as mobile orwireless device.

In certain embodiments, network assistance data can be conveyed throughthe Wi-Fi overhead information which is then being tunneled throughSIB17 over LTE system information block used to direct UEs to utilize aparticular Wi-Fi SSID. The network assistance data may be, for example,network congestion data.

Certain embodiments may provide a knowledge sharing protocol between UEsand evolved Node Bs (eNBs) or other network equipment. Additionally, bythen tunneling this protocol over the LTE, the network assistance datacan be available over the entire cellular coverage area. In contrast,with the direct usage of Wi-Fi SSID, the network assistance data maythen only be available in a small subset of the geographic coveragearea, for example near small cells with co-located Wi-Fi capability.Thus, this SIB17/SSID tunneled over LTE can be used not just over smallcells but also over macro cells.

Certain embodiments provide a mechanism to enable identifying thatsubscribers are going to perform a proprietary knowledge sharingprotocol between the subscriber device and the network, for examplesharing congestion information down to the mobile, and obtainingadvanced knowledge of anticipated user traffic activity up from the UE.

Certain embodiments can provide easy access to insights that apps canuse in their internal decisions. Additionally, certain embodiments mayenable identifying to subscribers that the eNB supports a proprietaryknowledge sharing protocol between the subscriber device and thenetwork, for example where this protocol performs sharing congestioninformation down to the mobile over the entire cellular coverage area.Additionally, certain embodiments can provide for the eNB to conveycertain network insights or knowledge to, for example, share congestioninformation down to the mobile over the entire cellular coverage area.

Additionally, certain embodiments provide a solution that does notconflict with existing standards and technologies, such as standards inplace within existing subscriber devices. Furthermore, certainembodiments provide a solution that enables the eNB to rapidly providethis information, without the need for bringing significant complexitysuch as that possibly involved with the eNB directly running code whichexecutes higher level application knowledge/application protocols withinthe eNB. Furthermore, certain embodiments provide a solution thatenables delivering this knowledge sharing down to the UE, in a way whichthat enables certain existing operating systems to transparently passthis information on to applications using existing operating systemapplication programming interfaces (APIs).

Certain embodiments may be configured to avoid avoid inefficiencies bysharing knowledge/preferences between UE/Apps and eNB. Inefficienciescan include eNB inactivity. Thus, in certain embodiments C-DRX decisionscan use knowledge of UE traffic preferences. Similarly, UE decisions canuse eNB knowledge of congestion.

This sharing of information may enable a host of things including, forexample, improving battery life and capacity, avoiding excess UEconnected/modem-on time and excess RRC transitions, and creatingnumerous additional improvements from joint decision-making.

Certain embodiments may define a protocol for this knowledge sharing.This protocol may relate to radio level messaging, avoiding conflictswith current and future LTE standards releases.

Certain embodiments can address a situation when there is to be a newconnection or a handoff/handover. A UE can determine if an eNB supportsknowledge sharing based on virtual basic service set identification(B-SSID) being broadcast over LTE system information block 17 (SIB17).The B-SSID can be a dedicated medium access control (MAC) address value.This approach can avoid conflicts/problems with existing standard/UEs.Furthermore, certain embodiments can work with both idle and connectedUEs.

In response to the broadcast, the UE can convey an uplink (UL) knowledgesharing message to the eNB using an uplink (UL) MAC control element (CE)with a currently reserved index.

The eNB can transmit downlink (DL) knowledge sharing message with a MACCE with currently reserved index. This DL message can be sent if eNBreceives an UL, with MAC CE reserved index, or if the eNB checks theUE's international mobile station equipment identity (IMIEI) softwareversion (IMEISV).

Certain embodiments may avoid conflict with an LTE standard by, forexample, using SIB17. In certain embodiments, neither the UE nor the eNBmay transmit a knowledge sharing message, for example a MAC CE on areserved index, unless the transmitter knows that the receiver supportsthe knowledge sharing.

For example, a UE may avoid transmitting a knowledge sharing messageuntil the UE verifies eNB supports knowledge Sharing. For example, theUE may verify by detecting a knowledge sharing message from the eNB overSIB17/SSID.

Alternatively, the eNB can avoid transmitting a knowledge sharingmessage until the eNB verifies that the UE has knowledge sharing. Forexample, the eNB may wait until the eNB receives a knowledge sharingmessage from the UE over a reserved MAC CE.

If a currently reserved MAC CE index is defined in a later LTE release,then the eNB can avoid transmitting that new MAC CE index to earlierrelease UEs.

The UE may only transmit on a MAC CE index indicated by the protocol onthe DL, over SIB17. This may avoid transmitting on a wrong MAC CE index.

The eNB can know the UE's release, for example from “UE Capabilities” inradio resource control (RRC) and/or a UE knowledge sharing message onUL. Thus, the eNB may be able to use the appropriate MAC CE index setfor UEs from that LTE release.

The eNB can transmit a new MAC CE index only to a new LTE release UE.This may be determined from RRC “UE Capabilities” or an UL MAC CEmessage.

These and similar mechanisms can prevent previous release knowledgesharing UEs from receiving a new MAC CE index. These mechanisms,however, can also allow UEs and eNBs for the new LTE release to useknowledge sharing with an updated index set for that LTE release.

In certain embodiments, the ordinary operation of SIB17 is notdestroyed. Thus, in certain embodiments SIB17 can also be simultaneouslyutilized as intended by the standards. For example, up to 16 WLAN-Idscan be conveyed; maxWLAN-Id-r12 INTEGER ::=16, as described in 3GPPtechnical specification (TS) 36.331, which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

FIG. 1 illustrates a data structure according to certain embodiments. Asshown in FIG. 1, the data structure can indicate a vendor, such as NokiaNetworks, using SSID. The BSSID and HESSID can provide networkassistance data.

FIG. 2 illustrates a further data structure according to certainembodiments. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates an implementation inconnection with SIB 17.

In this case, the value for SSID may be “N,” or another short value,which may minimize overhead. BSSID can indicate a vendor specificattribute and some knowledge sharing data, and the HESSID can beoptional or omitted.

Thus, in certain embodiments, SIB 17: 002A6F (3 octets): to bedetermined (TBD) (3 octets). In this example, the vendor specificattribute=002A6F (HEX)=28458 (decimal). See RFC 2865 andhttps://www.iana.org/assignments/enterprise-numbers/enterprise-numbers,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Additional network knowledge sharing data may be conveyed over thelatter 3 octets using multiple TBD reserved MAC address, or overextended SSID name.

FIG. 3 illustrates an additional data structure according to certainembodiments. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates the last two octets ofBSSID. As shown in FIG. 3, the first three bits may be a protocolsupport indication. The protocol support indication may indicate the MACCE usage support level.

The next six bits may provide baseline congestion information, includingtwo bits for downlink congestion, two bits for uplink congestion, andtwo bits for congestion time window. In this particular example, thefour values for congestion levels may be 0, 1, 2, and 3, in which thehigher the number the more congestion is indicated. Alternatively,higher numbers could be used to indicate lower congestion. The fourpossible values of congestion time window may indicate a number ofminutes, such as 0.5, 2.5, 10.5, and 42.5 minutes.

The next two bits can indicate congestion over a four window period(4*W). The first bit can indicate relative DL congestion, while thesecond bit can indicate relative UL congestion. A zero may indicate thata UE should wait if the UE seeks to avoid congestion, because it isexpected that the congestion may improve within four windows. On theother hand, a one may indicate that the UE should transfer if the UEseeks to avoid congestion, because it is expected that congestion isless likely to improve within four windows. Four windows here is givenas an example of a possible reporting duration. Other durations, such asthree or five windows are also permitted. The decision as to which ofthe two values to report can be based on comparing an expectation ofcongestion improvement to a threshold. Alternatively, the decision maybe based on some other factor, such as whether off-loading of the UE isdesired or undesired.

The next two bits can convey a UE attempt randomization interval. Thiscan be a value, n, which indicates that the interval should be 30*2^(n)seconds.

The last three bits may be reserved or TBD for other purposes. Thesepurposes may be an eNB configuration, a MAC CE support level, a pertemporary international mobile subscriber identity (T-IMSI) transferstart time and/or randomization and/or random access channel (RACH) codeguidance. Alternatively, the purpose may be to indicate congestion onadditional timescales or in other cells. Other uses are also permitted.

FIG. 4 illustrates further data structures according to certainembodiments. As shown in FIG. 4, a BSSID can include two bits for UEtype specific congestion, such as congestion due to users of an AppleCorp. device or congestion due to users of other specific types orcategories of devices, such as devices using other operating systems.Two bits can also be used to indicate a limitation on UL reports andfour bits can be used to indicate neighboring cell congestion.

Also, or alternatively, the BSSID can include eight or more bits oftransfer information. This information can include a transfer identifier(TI), which may be a hashed version of T-IMSI. The transfer informationcan also include a recommended start time. Six bits can provide manydifferent options for indicating a variety of different possible starttimes, such as 1, 2, . . . 10, 12, . . . 20, 25, 30, or 60 seconds.Other values or value distributions can be assigned to the six bits. Oneor more additional bits can be reserved for other purposes, such asproviding congestion information corresponding to other cells. Thisinformation is useful as it enables the application in a variety ofways. For example, the application may use this to consider whether itis more advantageous to perform a background transfer now in a currentcell, or later after it potentially moves.

If SIB17 conveys not only protocol support but also network knowledge tobe shared then frequent changes to SIB17 avoid changing tag value andwaking up UEs. Certain embodiments may advertise SIB change, with tagvalue, when a major network congestion change occurs.

Certain embodiments may use scrambling, to limit access to any networkknowledge shared, for example over SIB 17. Scrambling may be a functionof other parameters, for example current cell ID number, PCI, time ofday, location, encryption key, and may include redundancy. In certainembodiments, the scrambling can be configured so that it can be verifiedby the UE.

Certain embodiments involve configuring a threshold corresponding to theSIB17 SSID information use, such that other UEs will ignore the SIB17payload. For example, certain embodiments may utilize signal strengththreshold, WLAN-OffloadConfig, to cause other UEs to ignore SIB17. Thismay, for example, involve setting both threshold values to be eithervery high or very low. In this case, both means to set both the highthreshold and the low threshold to the same value, and then optionallyhave that same value be either a very high or a very low value. Inanother case, one may set the low threshold to be actually higher thanthe high threshold, such that there is no value that could satisfy boththe high and low threshold.

FIG. 5 illustrates thresholds in connection with certain embodiments. Asshown in FIG. 5, there can thresholds for reference signal receivedpower (RSRP), for reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and beaconreference signal strength indicator (RSSI). Each parameter can include alow threshold and a high threshold. The values for the thresholds can aninteger within a predefined range.

In this way, in certain embodiments, when there is a new connection,handoff, handover, or the like, a UE can determine whether an eNB orother access node supports knowledge sharing based on the last 2 or 3octets of the BSSID

This approach may be able to work with UEs both in idle mode and inconnected mode. Furthermore, a signal strength threshold can be set,which can allow other UEs to ignore. Additionally, certain embodimentscan avoid excessive tag value changes, which might otherwise wake upUEs.

In response, a UE can convey an UL knowledge sharing message to the eNBusing a UL MAC CE with currently reserved index. Then, the eNB cantransmit DL knowledge sharing message, MAC CE with currently reservedindex, if eNB receives UL MAC CE with reserved index or the eNB cancheck the UE's IMEISV.

Certain embodiments can convey control information jointly with the MACCE over a proprietary index.

Similarly, if there is a new connection or a handoff completes, or thelike, a UE can be prevented from transmitting a knowledge sharingmessage until the UE verifies eNB supports knowledge sharing, and/oruntil the UE detects knowledge sharing message from an eNB overSIB17/SSID, or MAC CE. The UE can, in certain embodiments, only transmiton MAC CE index indicated by the SIB17 SSID configuration.

Utilizing the signaling can help to avoid congestionstorms/random-access storms on the uplink. For example, each time theeNB transmits an indication over the knowledge sharing protocol to a UE,indicating low congestion, there is a probability that one or more UEswill, in response, initiate a transfer. Consequently, the network/eNBcongestion estimate may also be incrementally adjusted in response tothe number of network/eNB initiated low congestion indications(recently) transmitted to UEs. In one embodiment, the signalingindicates a random on back off congestion interval duration, in order torandomize the timing of the UE access attempts in response to a lowcongestion notification.

The eNB may also indicate to groups of UEs, a RACH. The indication canprovide location information, such as a special RACH for UEs currentlyfeeding to transfer only background traffic. The indication can alsoprovide code information, such as coordination information/seedinformation to avoid RACH collisions within a group of UEs likely tosimultaneously access the same RACH.

Certain embodiments can convey unicast signaling, addressing a singleUE, for example using TIMSI to direct that a UE begin a transfer. TheeNB may also indicate to specific Uses the time for that specific UE toinitiate a transfer. In this case, each connected or idle UE may then beconfigured to monitor the SIB for guidance at a particular set of times.This can further improve network utilization efficiency. This couldpotentially use a hashed version of a T-IMSI, or a pre-agreed UEsignature. When the UE is connected, the eNB can instead use the DL MACCE for this purpose. Such alternative mechanism may be useful, forexample, when the SIB17 is full and/or not timely.

Certain embodiments can configure an offset such that specific UEs willmonitor the SIB17 at a specific subset of the times when it is beingbroadcast. This may help to minimize RACH overload in certain instances,if congestion is detected and transfer of the UE may be needed.

Certain embodiments can use a consistent tag value to enable avoidingwaking up all UEs to monitor for this SIB change, for example when thereare minor/frequent changes in network congestion information. An updatedtag value may be used when major congestion events occur, for example towake up additional UEs, if needed. Thus, in certain embodiments an eNBmay advertise the SIB change, with tag value, when a major networkcongestion change occurs. Furthermore, the eNB may update SIB17 withmost recent congestion information, more frequently than advertising theSIB change with tag value.

For specific UEs actively monitoring for congestion changes, certainembodiments can configure the UE DRX/wake-up intervals to coincide withbroadcast on the information over SIB17.

Furthermore, certain embodiments can use an LTE modem API to enableapplications to obtain and extract the congestion information withoutthe need to modify the UE operating system.

This tunneled Wi-Fi information over SIB can additionally indicate Wi-Ficongestion information. The eNB may also indicate native SSID values,for example values being broadcast by Wi-Fi co-located at small cells,indicating more or less network congestion.

The information provided in these ways can be used by both idle mode andconnected mode UEs, as mentioned above. Thus, even idle mode UEs maybenefit from knowledge sharing.

Furthermore, the knowledge shared can be scrambled, in order to controlaccess to this information. Scrambling may be a function of otherparameters, such as current cell ID number, PCI, time of day, location,or encryption key, and may include redundancy. Thus, scrambling may beable to be verified by the UE.

Fixed lengths of, for example, 48 bits can enable providing relativelydetailed guidance. This can be accomplished more particularly using thelast two octets of SIB 17, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 3.

Certain embodiments can use an opaque eNB configuration indication,enabling the creation of detailed eNB key performance indicators (KPIs),while protecting the privacy of the eNB's exact/full/explicitconfiguration.

In addition to the above, there can be additional downlink payloadand/or knowledge sharing attributes. The downlink knowledge sharingmessaging can convey one or more specific information elements. Theseinformation elements can include one or more of: a short-term orlong-term congestion, on one or more of the uplink and the downlink; ashort-term or long-term congestion across both up and downlink, whichcould be a unitless number between one and 8 indicating the congestionstate associated with whichever of the two link directions is morecongested (this congestion estimate could correspond to a plannedbidirectional transfer); an indication of the congestion overalternative wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi; or an indication ofthe timescale or cells associated with the congestion estimate provided,for example indicating the timescale associated with the long-termcongestion estimate provided over the knowledge sharing protocol.

These information elements can include an indication of a mobilitycongestion estimate, for example indicating that this is the likelycongestion the UE will encounter if the UE is mobile, based on one ormore neighbor/likely handoff cells, as opposed to a congestion estimatewhich is to be expected by the UE if the UE remains relatively static/inthat location.

These information elements can include an indication of a recommendedtime for a transfer, for example within a specific time window indicatedby the UE.

These information elements can include an indication of the transferdirection associated with the recommended time for the transfer.Furthermore, these information elements can include an indication of arecommended transfer size, in bytes and/or seconds, associated with therecommended time for the transfer. For example, this could apply in thecase where the UE has requested/indicated it plans a particularly largetransfer, but the network has identified a smaller uncongestedopportunity and has recommended that the UE perform a fraction of theplanned transfer during this opportunistic interval.

These information elements can include one or more of the following: anindication that the recommended time for a transfer corresponds to theanticipated transfer indicated by the UE in the uplink knowledge sharingprotocol; an indication of the congestion in the cell resulting from aparticular category of UEs, for example an indication of the congestionin the cell resulting from UEs from a particular UE provider or vendor,or corresponding to subscribers which support the knowledge sharingprotocol; or an indication of congestion in one or more other cells, forexample neighboring cells, or an explicit indication of the congestionin an overlay macro cell, which may be relevant for example when a UE isunder a small cell, which is in the middle of the coverage area of themacrocell, and the UE has some mobility.

These information elements can include an indication of subscriberexperience, for example quality of experience (QoE), corresponding tothe experience of the lowest quality subscriber experience in that cell,wherein that subscriber is from a particular category of subscribers.For example, the QoE may be the lowest from a particular UE provider orvendor, or among the UEs using the knowledge sharing protocol in thatcell or geographic region.

These information elements can include an indication of the likelysensitivity of the subscriber throughput to the signal strength at theUE. For example, this indication can provide a parameter to the UE whichenables the UE to estimate the multiplicative change in the likelythroughput achieved as the signal strength (RSRP or RSRQ) changes as theUE moves within that cell, while the cell has a constant level ofcongestion. In other words the subscriber can use this parameter withina predetermined function to estimate the degree to which changes insignal strength will correlate with faster or slower transferopportunities.

These information elements can include any of the following: anindication of the RRC inactivity timer value currently planned to beused by the network/eNB for that UE; an indication of the eNB vendortype an/or knowledge sharing protocol version; or an indication that theUE should wait in idle mode until it enters another cell, at which pointit should connect in order to determine the current congestion over theknowledge sharing protocol. The indication to wait in idle mode mayfurther indicate specific neighboring cells, for example cells that arelower congestion, where the UE may use this approach

These information elements can include an indication of the type ofneighboring cells where the subscriber should subsequently attempt toconnect to determine the congestion level. For example, the indicationmay indicate that the subscriber should connect in order to determinethe congestion level over the knowledge sharing protocol only withincells with particular configurations, or cells of particular types, forexample small cells, femto cells, or macro cells.

These information elements can include an indication that specificneighboring cells support the knowledge sharing protocol, e.g. usingspecific references such as cell names or associated cell broadcastinformation which will enable the UE to later identify that the UE isnear such specific cells.

These information elements can include an indication that the knowledgesharing protocol support at that cell is ending shortly. For example,the indication may indicate the time interval after which the protocolsupport information should be deleted from the UE and/or the UEoperating system/ecosystem.

These information elements can include the following: an indication tothe UE indicating how to estimate the downlink cell congestion fromRSRQ, for example compensating for the level of other cell interferencealso being received in that approximate location; or an indication tothe UE indicating how to estimate the uplink cell congestion from themodulation coding sequence (MCS) assigned as a part of uplink grant(s).

These information elements can include an indication of the degree towhich the UE can generate knowledge sharing protocol messaging over theuplink. For example, this indication may prohibit the UEs fromtransmitting long uplink knowledge sharing messaging in the case wherethe uplink is congested. This configuration may further be implicit suchthat the UE automatically determines that it is disallowed fromtransmitting one or more uplink knowledge sharing messages after itreceives a message from the network indicating that the uplink iscongested. Furthermore, this portion of the knowledge sharing protocolmay prohibit all uplink knowledge sharing messaging, while stillindicating that downlink knowledge sharing messaging may occur.Alternatively, this indication may allow the UE to perform messagingwhich indicates planned transfers, but which disallows providingknowledge sharing inputs on network configuration such as inactivitytimer and/or discontinuous reception (DRx). Conversely, this may allowthe UE to provide inputs with respect to inactivity timer and/or DRx,but disallow inputs with respect to planned transfers. The network maythen configure this downlink indication in order to optimize the networkperformance, while considering the overhead generated by this uplinkknowledge sharing messaging, and the observed benefits generated by thisknowledge sharing messaging. Furthermore, the network may disallow thismessaging from a subset of the UE devices, for example where the benefitof such messaging is expected to be smaller, or where the UE deviceswhich tend to generate less traffic, or where subscriber device's powerpreference indicator indicates that performance is more important thanconserving power.

In view of the above, certain embodiments provide and implement aknowledge sharing protocol. This knowledge sharing protocol can usespecific mechanisms to convey network/eNB knowledge information to UEs.This sharing can permit applications on the UE to make betterapplication relevant decisions, additionally considering thisnetwork/eNB knowledge information in the application relevant decisionsbeing made within the UE.

Additionally, this protocol can advertise that the protocol is beingsupported to the UEs that also support the protocol. This advertisementmay permit these UEs, or UE applications or UE operating systems thatsupport the knowledge sharing protocol, to convey specific applicationrelevant information to the network/eNB. This information may alsopermit the network/eNB to make more informed decisions, incorporatingnetwork/eNB information along with the application relevant informationreceived over this protocol.

Furthermore, certain embodiments support a case in which a specificsubset of the UEs in a network support this protocol. For example, thisprotocol may be a proprietary protocol that is implemented by only asubset of the UEs. In this case, the broader set of UEs may implementcellular standardized messaging, for example consistent with 3GPP LTE orLTE advanced. However, a specific subset of these UEs may haveimplemented an additional proprietary protocol, for example supportingthis knowledge sharing protocol.

This network/eNB knowledge sharing protocol may then enable battery lifeand capacity benefits, for example by reducing the total amount of modemon time and/or power transmitted to/from the UE. The protocol mayaccomplish such reductions by, for example, avoiding scenarios in whichthere is excess/unnecessary subscriber modem on time, either becausethere is not a need from an application traffic perspective, for examplea background transfer just completed, or a streaming playout buffer hasjust finished being overfilled to a deeper than necessary depth, and/orwhere the modem on time can be reduced because the transfer can insteadoccur where the network/eNB is relatively uncongested such that thetotal time to complete the transfer is relatively brief.

For example, note that if the link speed achieved during a transfer isincreased by a multiplicative factor of ten, then it may be possible toreduce the total amount of current drain by that transfer byapproximately a multiplicative factor of five. This follows from a casewhere the modem on time is reduced by approximately a multiplicativefactor of ten, and the current drain during the download is increasedonly by a multiplicative factor of two, while it is downloading at amuch higher link speed, one which is ten times faster. This is further acase in which the UE can immediately return to idle at the end of thebackground transfer. Thus, the UE can return to idle more quicklybecause the download completed more quickly, and optionally the UE cantransition even more quickly to idle because the network knows that thisparticular transfer is a background transfer.

Certain embodiments relate to a method including detecting, by anapplication running on a wireless device, at least one Wi-Fi advertisedvalue being, for example, advertised over a cellular system informationblock. The method may also include extracting, from the at least oneWi-Fi advertised value, at least one cellular network insight for acellular network condition.

Also, certain embodiments relate a method including detecting, by anapplication running on a wireless device, at least one Wi-Fi advertisedvalue being advertised over a cellular system information block message.The method may also include extracting, from the at least one cellularsystem information block message, at least a Wi-Fi advertised value, andextracting from the at least one Wi-Fi advertised value advertised overthe LTE system information block, at least one cellular network insightfor a cellular network condition.

Further, certain embodiments relate to an apparatus that includes atleast one processor and at least one memory including computer programcode. The at least one memory and computer program code can beconfigured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus toat least detect at least one Wi-Fi advertised value being advertisedover a cellular system information block message, and to extract, fromthe at least one Wi-Fi advertised value, at least one cellular networkinsight for a cellular network condition.

Moreover, certain embodiments relate to a computer program, embodied ona computer readable medium. The computer program, when run on aprocessor, can perform a method including detecting, by an applicationrunning on a wireless device, at least one Wi-Fi advertised value beingadvertised over a cellular system information block message. The methodmay also include extracting, from the at least one Wi-Fi advertisedvalue, at least one cellular network insight for a cellular networkcondition.

Additionally, certain embodiments relate to an apparatus including meansfor detecting at least one Wi-Fi advertised value being advertised overa cellular system information block message. The apparatus may alsoinclude means for extracting, from the at least one Wi-Fi advertisedvalue being advertised over a cellular system information block message,at least one cellular network insight for a cellular network condition.

Structure of the cellular insight being conveyed over non-cellularsignaling being tunneled through cellular SIB may vary. The followingare some examples.

In a further embodiment, the Wi-Fi advertised value being advertisedover a cellular system information block message, can include a sixoctet BSSID value. In a further embodiment, the six octet BSSID valuecan include three octets conveying a vendor specific attribute definedas 002A6F (HEX)=28458 (decimal) within RFC 2865, followed by anadditional number of bits, such as an octet equal to 03, indicating thatthe information is conveying a cellular insight to the UE, followed byan additional number of bits, such as the last two octets, indicatingthe cellular insight itself.

Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the Wi-Fi advertised values furtherinclude at least one of a zero length or omitted HESSID value, and asingle letter SSID value. The minimization or omission of these valuescan minimize the amount of overhead required to convey the additionalsystem information block.

In certain embodiments, the field within the BSSID, indicating thecellular insight itself, may be further divided into a first subregionconveying cellular insights to a first group of devices, such as devicesmanufactured by a first UE vendor, and the second subregion may conveycellular insights to a second group, such as devices manufactured by asecond UE vendor. In further embodiments, within the field conveying thecellular insight, there may be additionally a subregion indicatingcellular insights to devices being manufactured by both the first andthe second UE vendor.

In a further embodiment, a final field indicating the cellular insightitself may be further divided into a first subregion conveying cellularinsights to devices manufactured by a first UE vendor, and a secondsubregion conveying cellular insights to devices manufactured by asecond UE vendor. Additionally, in certain embodiments, there may be afurther subregion indicating cellular insights to devices beingmanufactured by both the first and the second UE vendor.

Certain embodiments may relate to an apparatus including means fordetecting at least one Wi-Fi advertised value being advertised over acellular system information block message at particular times, or timeoffsets. Thus, a first UE may monitor for cellular network insights at afirst set of offsets when the Wi-Fi advertised value being advertisedover a cellular system information block message is being transmitted.However, a second UE may monitor for cellular network insights at asecond set of offsets when the Wi-Fi advertised value being advertisedover a cellular system information block message is being transmitted.

In certain embodiments, the rules or mapping forencoding/decoding/extracting the network insight from the received Wi-Fiadvertised value may include a function of other parameters including,for example, at least one of the current cell ID number, time of day,location, encryption key, a seed, or any combination thereof. Accordingto an example embodiment, the actual insight itself may be hashed orencrypted for example using the prevailing macro LTE cell ID number,and/or a separate encryption key. This can enable the network to preventapps that have not paid for access to the insights from being able toextract the insights. For example, apps which have not paid for accessor full access to the insights may not have the encryption key, suchthat the SSID may be opaque.

According to certain embodiments, the rules or mapping forencoding/decoding/extracting the network insight from the received Wi-Fiadvertised value may be such that the SSID value includes redundancy sothat it can be signed and verified by the app detecting and decoding theSSID value. This may be similar to using forward error correctionmechanisms or a long cyclic redundancy code (CRC)-like field on the endof the SSID such that the app can verify that the SSID dissected isactually a valid SSID, which is actually conveying a network insight.

In certain embodiments, an apparatus can include the following: meansfor assigning, at a base station in a wireless network, a signatureusing a context of the base station, wherein the assigning is performedso that the signature identifies at least a portion of a currentconfiguration state of the base station; and means for sending anindication of the signature to one or more UEs. Such embodiments maythen include using a special protocol wherein the eNB additionallyindicates the eNB vendor type over this protocol.

Certain embodiments may avoid other subscribers from utilizing theinformation being tunneled through the non-cellular signaling over theSIB. There may be various ways of accomplishing such avoidance, asalready indicated above. The following provide some further examples.

For example, certain embodiments relate to configuring a thresholdcorresponding to the SIB17 SSID information use, such that other UEswill ignore the SIB17 payload. In this embodiment, the LTE systeminformation block 17 can advertise a signal strength threshold(WLAN-OffloadConfig) which can cause UEs not implementing theproprietary protocol to ignore SIB17. This threshold setting may, incertain embodiments, involve setting both threshold values to be eithervery high or very low. In another case, one may set the low threshold tobe actually higher than the high threshold, such that there is no singlevalue which simultaneously satisfies both the high and low threshold.

Updating the information being advertised can be done in various ways.For example, certain embodiments relate to a method including detectinga first level of network congestion on a first wireless network. Themethod also includes, in response to the detecting of the first level ofnetwork congestion, transmitting a basic service set identifier (BSSID)value over a second wireless network, where the BSSID value encodes thefirst level of network congestion. The method may then include detectinga second level of network congestion on the first wireless network, and,in response to the detecting of the second level of network congestion,transmitting a second BSSID value over the second wireless network,where the second BSSID value encodes the second level of networkcongestion.

Updating the information being advertised with respect to tag valuemanagement can be done in various ways. The following is an example. Incertain embodiments, a method can include configuring a tag value inresponse to a change in the SIB17 SSID value, such that other UEs willor will not wake up to monitor to obtain the new and updated SIB17payload. In such embodiments, if the change in the cellular networkinginsight is smaller than a threshold, then the corresponding tag valuemay not be changed. However, if the change in the cellular networkinsight is larger than a threshold, then the corresponding tag value maybe changed. In certain embodiments, the cellular networking insight maycorrespond to a cellular network congestion condition.

Further elaborating on this point, using a consistent tag value evenwhile the SIB17 information changes, can help in avoiding waking up allUEs to monitor for this SIB change (for example, when there areminor/frequent changes in network congestion information), while usingan updated tag value can be employed when major congestion events occur.In this way, the eNB can selectively advertise the SIB17 change, with anupdated tag value, when a major network congestion change occurs, whichmay happen less frequently.

Certain embodiments relate to an apparatus including means for detectingat least one Wi-Fi advertised value being advertised over a cellularsystem information block message. The apparatus may also include meansfor extracting, from the at least one Wi-Fi advertised value beingadvertised over a cellular system information block message, at leastone cellular network insight indicating guidance UEs performing networkaccess.

There may be various ways of providing further guidance to UEs on how toperform access in response to the SIB payload described. The followingare some examples. In certain embodiments, the guidance may indicate arandomization interval, across which the subscriber device is torandomly select a time in which to initiate its connection to thenetwork. In certain embodiments, this guidance may indicate a particularpolicy with which the subscriber device should further select an accesscode, for use when performing randomized access/RACH. Furthermore, incertain embodiments this guidance may indicate a particular RACH region,where the subscriber device is to perform random access.

For example, each time the eNB transmits an indication over theknowledge sharing protocol to a UE, indicating low congestion, there canbe a probability that one or more UEs will, in response, initiate atransfer. Consequently, the network/eNB congestion estimate may also beincrementally adjusted in response to the number of network/eNBinitiated low congestion indications recently transmitted. In certainembodiments, the signaling can indicate a random back off congestioninterval duration, in order to randomize the timing of the UE accessattempts in response to a low congestion notification.

In certain further embodiments, the value may convey to the UEs thevalue of a timer, indicating how long the network was congested, priorto advertising its current low congestion interval. In such embodiments,the UE can then use the value of this timer to determine the likelihoodof other subscriber devices simultaneously attempting access in responseto the low congestion indication. If the timer value is longer, thesubscriber device may conclude that a larger number of other subscribersare likely to be simultaneously performing access, because othersubscriber devices were potentially accumulated over a longer timeinterval, while waiting for a low congestion interval.

There may be various way to use non-cellular signaling being tunneledthrough cellular signaling, to indicate support for a proprietaryprotocol over the cellular system. The following are some examples. Forexample, certain embodiments relate to an apparatus including means fordetecting at least one Wi-Fi advertised value being advertised over acellular system information block message. The apparatus may alsoinclude means for extracting, from the at least one Wi-Fi advertisedvalue being advertised over a cellular system information block message,at least one cellular network insight indicating support for aparticular proprietary protocol.

In certain further embodiments, the cellular network insight may utilizethe system information block broadcast mechanism described to convey aunicast-like messaging directed to a single UE, for example using afield based on the UE TIMSI to indicate when and/or how that UE shouldconnect to the network. In certain embodiments, the cellular networkinsight may convey broadcast messaging directed to a group of UE, forexample indicating to one or more of the connected UEs and the idle UEs,the current network congestion state.

In certain embodiments, a proprietary protocol employed may be one wherethe subscriber device is permitted to transmit specific UL knowledgesharing messages on the uplink over MAC control element (CE) usingpreviously reserved index values.

There are multiple embodiments as to how the UE can determine that theUE can begin using the knowledge sharing protocol. The following areseveral examples. In certain embodiments, when the UE receives adownlink knowledge sharing protocol message over the BSSID and SIB 17,the UE may then be allowed to utilize the knowledge sharing proprietaryprotocol, possibly including transmitting uplink knowledge sharingprotocol messaging.

In certain embodiments, the Wi-Fi BSSID information could potentially beused to advertise LTE network/eNB support for the network knowledgesharing protocol. In another embodiment, the first subscriber maydetermine that the cell supports the knowledge sharing protocol byobserving certain non-cellular signaling, for example over Wi-Fi and/orBluetooth, which signaling can be tunneled through cellular network/eNBsignaling. For example, this non-cellular information is being indicatedthrough the cellular SIB (system information block) signaling such asSIB 17. The system may further use encrypted Wi-Fi and or Bluetoothidentifiers in order to further authenticate to the UE that theknowledge sharing protocol is supported by that cell.

There may be various way for downlink knowledge sharing insights to beconveyed over the non-cellular signaling information being transmittedthrough the LTE SIB signaling such as the within the BSSID SIB 17. Forexample, the downlink knowledge sharing messaging can include one ormore specific information elements, as described above.

Subscriber processing of downlink knowledge sharing messaging can occurin various ways, of which the following are some examples. Downlinkknowledge sharing indications may enable the UE to determine whether nowis a relatively good time to initiate and/or continue with and/or stopan application transfer exchange with the network/eNB. The UE cancombine its knowledge of the transfer attributes with those of thenetwork/eNB congestion, for example with attributes such as thenetwork/eNB congestion timescale provided, to determine whether to, andwhen to initiate any transfer.

Downlink notification of inactivity timer can occur in various ways, ofwhich the following are some examples. The UE may use a receivedindication of the RRC or idle inactivity timer value currently plannedto be used by the network/eNB for that UE, in order to minimize theamount of additional signaling required in order for the UE to avoidtransitioning to idle. For example the UE can then wait until just priorto the inactivity timer expiration before initiating bearer trafficnecessary to maintain the subscribers connected state, such that the UEcan continue to wait for a knowledge sharing low congestion notificationwithout necessarily having to transmit uplink knowledge sharingmessaging to the eNB, requesting an explicit extension to the RRCinactivity timer.

Additionally when the knowledge sharing protocol performs a downlinkcongestion notification to the UE using this knowledge sharing protocol,the eNB can additionally indicate that the network/eNB is congested andthere is also a particularly large density of subscribers supportingknowledge sharing, and/or from a particular device vendor, such as AppleCorp., within that cell. Certain embodiments may thus address a case inwhich each device from a particular manufacturer or vendor may be moremotivated to back off its transfer if there are other devices, from thesame vendor or manufacturer, in that cell.

Sensitivity of subscriber throughput or effective congestion level canbe provided as a function of signal strength. Thus, in certainembodiments, the parameter that eNB provides with this knowledge sharingcan be a parameter that would enable the UE to estimate themultiplicative change in the likely throughput the UE would achieve, asthe UE moves further away from the cell. Thus, the information cancapture a degree to which the scheduler is biased towards providinghigher data rates to the subscribers which are closer to the cell. Forexample, the information can reflect a multiplicative change inthroughput as a function of RSRP, for example for a given congestionlevel.

In certain embodiments, the UE can use its anticipated mobility andanticipated signal strength to calculate the maximum signal strengthinterval where a transfer could occur. Furthermore, the UE can thendetermine the time of this maximum signal strength time interval.

The knowledge sharing message format can vary. For example, theknowledge sharing protocol may use one or more of the reserved indexeswithin the SIB 17.

UE processing of knowledge sharing messaging received can vary. Thefollowing are some examples of such processing. In response to receivinga knowledge sharing message, the UE may evaluate the urgency of the UE'stransfer, and decide whether to start now, continue, or temporarily orsignificantly delay the transfer. The UE may act on the UE's owndecision, for example with respect to initiating transfer.

In certain embodiments, the UE may use the information received overknowledge sharing to determine whether or not to utilize an alternativewireless technology such as Wi-Fi. For example, if the knowledge sharingprotocol indicates that the eNB is relatively uncongested, then the UEmay determine that the UE can save battery life by connecting over theeNB. In contrast if the knowledge sharing protocol indicates that theeNB is relatively congested, then the UE may connect through the Wi-Fiaccess point, for example the un-trusted Wi-Fi access point within thesubscriber's home.

In certain embodiments, the network may indicate over the knowledgesharing protocol whether the UE should utilize a Wi-Fi access point, asopposed to cellular. Although Wi-Fi is presented as one alternative tocellular, other non-cellular access technologies are also permitted.

In certain embodiments, the eNB can estimate the likelihood that thecongestion on a link will improve by comparing the shorter-termcongestion over time window, for example W in duration, with thecongestion over a longer time window, such as 4*W. If the congestion inthe longer time window is lower than in the short duration, then the eNBmay further utilize this as a factor in determining that the congestionis likely to improve. Additionally, if the congestion over each of theprevious four consecutive windows have progressively lower congestion,then the eNB may further utilize this as a factor in determining thatthe congestion is more likely to improve.

Certain embodiments relate to a method in which the UE cannot transmit aknowledge sharing message unless the UE has received a knowledge sharingmessage over SIB 17 from the eNB.

Furthermore, certain embodiments relate to a method in which the eNB canadditionally simultaneously use SIB17 to provide SSID/non-cellularguidance to UEs, by utilizing the ability for the eNB to indicate up to16 different WLAN-IDS. The cellular networking insight may occupy only asubset, and possibly a single WLAN ID, for example “maxWLAN-Id-r12INTEGER::=16” from 3GPP TS 36.331.

Certain embodiments may have various benefits and/or advantages. Forexample, certain embodiments may enable very early exchange ofinformation, while minimizing overhead, and avoiding compatibilityproblems with the existing LTE standard. Additionally certainembodiments may enable interworking without impacting the operatingsystem.

Additionally, by tunneling such a protocol over LTE, certain embodimentscan convey the network assistance data that is available over the entirecellular coverage area. In contrast, with the direct usage of Wi-FiSSID, the network assistance data may then only be available in a smallsubset of the geographic coverage area, for example near small cellswith co-located Wi-Fi capability.

Utilizing the LTE modem API to enable applications to obtain andabstract this information without the need to modify the UE operatingsystem may enable deployment of this technique without the need toinvolve the operating system manufacturers or vendors.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method according to certain embodiments. As shownin FIG. 6, a method can include, at 610, detecting, by a device, atleast one advertised value of non-cellular access, wherein the at leastone advertised value is received by the device over a cellular systeminformation block message. The method can also include, at 620,extracting, from the at least one advertised value, at least onecellular network insight for a cellular network condition.

The detecting can be performed by an application on the device. Thedevice can be a user equipment, such as any smart phone, personaldigital assistant, tablet, wearable computer, smart watch, personalcomputer, laptop computer, or other digital accessory provided withcommunications hardware. The non-cellular access can be Wi-Fi or anyother alternative to cellular radio access.

Extracting the cellular networking insight from the advertised value caninclude extracting the cellular system information from a SIB 17message, verifying the vendor specific attributes within the basicservice set identifier matches a predetermined value, or a combinationthereof.

The at least one advertised value can be a Wi-Fi service identifier,comprising at least one of a basic service set identifier, service setidentifier, or a homogenous extended service set identifier. The basicservice set identifier value can include redundancy such that the basicservice set identifier value is signed and verified by an applicationrunning on the device. As mentioned above, this redundancy may help toassist in verification and/or authentication.

Rules for the extracting of the cellular network insight from the atleast one advertised value can be pre-provisioned onto the device, canbe downloaded from at least one of an internet server or thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) signaling, or can be obtainedusing some combination of those or other techniques.

Rules for the extracting of the cellular network insight from the atleast one advertised value can be a function of other parameters. Theother parameters may, for example, include current cell identifiernumber, time of day, location, encryption key, a seed, or anycombination thereof.

The method can also include, at 630, using the extracted at least onecellular network insight to cause at least one application adaptation,to provide the at least one cellular network insight to at least oneother application running on the device or tethered to the device, orboth to cause an adaptation in an application or component of the deviceand to notify another application or component of the device about thenetwork information.

The cellular network condition encoded in the at least one cellularnetwork insight can include one or a plurality of cellular communicationlinks. In certain instances, the cellular network insight can include ageographic region that is broader than the coverage area of thenon-cellular access. As mentioned above, the insight can be providedbased on knowledge unavailable to access nodes of the non-cellularaccess technology, but known to the cellular network.

The cellular network condition encoded in the at least one cellularnetwork insight can convey that the condition corresponds to at leastone specific cellular network access point and that the conditionconveys at least one of a cellular access point congestion condition oran expected cellular network throughput condition. In certainembodiments, both throughput and congestion can be indicated.

The cellular network condition encoded in the at least one cellularnetwork insight can convey an authentication challenge value formanagement of a specific cellular network access point.

The method can also include, at 640, detecting a first level of networkcongestion on a cellular network. The method can further include, inresponse to the detecting of the first level of network congestion, at650 transmitting a non-cellular identifier related to non-cellularaccess. The non-cellular identifier can include a basic service setidentifier value over the cellular network. The basic service setidentifier value can encode the first level of network congestion on thecellular network.

The method can also include, at 660, detecting a second level of networkcongestion on the cellular network. The method can further include, inresponse to the detecting of the second level of network congestion, at670 transmitting a second basic service set identifier value over thecellular network, wherein the second basic service set identifier valueencodes the second level of network congestion. The detecting the firstlevel, the detecting the second level, or both, can be performed by anaccess node. The access node can be an access point, a base station, anevolved Node B, or other access network element. The non-cellular accesscan be any alternative to cellular access, such as Wi-Fi.

The cellular network congestion information can be appended to areserved vendor specific attribute, which can then be further conveyedover the basic service set identifier value.

At least one signal strength threshold can be advertised over thecellular system. The signal strength threshold can instruct subscriberdevices to substantially ignore the basic service set identifier value.This instruction can further include the following: setting the lowsignal strength threshold to be higher than the high signal strengththreshold; setting both the low and high signal strength threshold tohave the highest possible value; or setting both the low and high signalstrength threshold to have the lowest possible value.

Furthermore, certain embodiments relate to a method in which the eNB canuse SIB17 to provide WLAN offload guidance to UEs (as per the currentLTE standard) while simultaneously enabling various embodimentsdescribed herein. One such embodiment involves utilizing an additionalPLMN. A first WLAN-OffloadConfig can then be provided for a first PLMNfor use in providing WLAN-OffloadConfig guidance to UEs, as per thecurrent LTE standard. A second WLAN-OffloadConfig can be provided forthe second PLMN as described, thereby enabling various embodimentsdescribed herein. In another embodiment, a subscriber device receivingWLAN-OffloadConfig indicating that the low signal strength threshold tobe higher than the high signal strength threshold, will utilizeproprietary knowledge to reverse the high and low signal strengththresholds, as a part of the proprietary protocol design. Furthermore itmay use the observation that the low signal strength threshold is higherthan the high signal strength threshold, to determine that theproprietary protocol is in use. In another embodiment, one or moreportions of the correct WLAN-OffloadConfig information may be conveyedwithin the WLAN ID list, such as within the last two octets of theBSSID.

The method can further include, at 680, determining whether to change anadvertised tag value which is advertised over the cellular system,wherein this determination comprises at least one of comparing apreviously advertised level of network congestion to the updated levelof network congestion being advertised or comparing a time of a last tagvalue change with the current time. This determination can furtherinclude determining to change the tag value in response to at least oneof determining that the change in the network congestion level isgreater than a threshold or determining that the time subsequent to thelast tag value change was greater than a threshold.

A change in the tag value can cause at least one subscriber device toadditionally receive and decode additional system information blockmessages. Other actions can also be produced by such a change, asdescribed above.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments of theinvention. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart ofFIG. 6 may be implemented by various means or their combinations, suchas hardware, software, firmware, one or more processors and/orcircuitry. In one embodiment, a system may include several devices, suchas, for example, network element 710 and user equipment (UE) or userdevice 720. The system may include more than one UE 720 and more thanone network element 710, although only one of each is shown for thepurposes of illustration. A network element can be an access point, abase station, an eNode B (eNB), or any other network element, such asany access node. Each of these devices may include at least oneprocessor or control unit or module, respectively indicated as 714 and724. At least one memory may be provided in each device, and indicatedas 715 and 725, respectively. The memory may include computer programinstructions or computer code contained therein, for example forcarrying out the embodiments described above. One or more transceiver716 and 726 may be provided, and each device may also include anantenna, respectively illustrated as 717 and 727. Although only oneantenna each is shown, many antennas and multiple antenna elements maybe provided to each of the devices. Other configurations of thesedevices, for example, may be provided. For example, network element 710and UE 720 may be additionally configured for wired communication, inaddition to wireless communication, and in such a case antennas 717 and727 may illustrate any form of communication hardware, without beinglimited to merely an antenna.

Transceivers 716 and 726 may each, independently, be a transmitter, areceiver, or both a transmitter and a receiver, or a unit or device thatmay be configured both for transmission and reception. The transmitterand/or receiver (as far as radio parts are concerned) may also beimplemented as a remote radio head which is not located in the deviceitself, but in a mast, for example. It should also be appreciated thataccording to the “liquid” or flexible radio concept, the operations andfunctionalities may be performed in different entities, such as nodes,hosts or servers, in a flexible manner. In other words, division oflabor may vary case by case. One possible use is to make a networkelement to deliver local content. One or more functionalities may alsobe implemented as a virtual application that is provided as softwarethat can run on a server.

A user device or user equipment 720 may be a mobile station (MS) such asa mobile phone or smart phone or multimedia device, a computer, such asa tablet, provided with wireless communication capabilities, personaldata or digital assistant (PDA) provided with wireless communicationcapabilities, portable media player, digital camera, pocket videocamera, navigation unit provided with wireless communicationcapabilities or any combinations thereof. The user device or userequipment 720 may be a sensor or smart meter, or other device that mayusually be configured for a single location.

In an exemplifying embodiment, an apparatus, such as a node or userdevice, may include means for carrying out embodiments described abovein relation to FIG. 6.

Processors 714 and 724 may be embodied by any computational or dataprocessing device, such as a central processing unit (CPU), digitalsignal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), digitally enhanced circuits, or comparable device or acombination thereof. The processors may be implemented as a singlecontroller, or a plurality of controllers or processors. Additionally,the processors may be implemented as a pool of processors in a localconfiguration, in a cloud configuration, or in a combination thereof.

For firmware or software, the implementation may include modules or unitof at least one chip set (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on).Memories 715 and 725 may independently be any suitable storage device,such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A hard disk drive(HDD), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or other suitablememory may be used. The memories may be combined on a single integratedcircuit as the processor, or may be separate therefrom. Furthermore, thecomputer program instructions may be stored in the memory and which maybe processed by the processors can be any suitable form of computerprogram code, for example, a compiled or interpreted computer programwritten in any suitable programming language. The memory or data storageentity is typically internal but may also be external or a combinationthereof, such as in the case when additional memory capacity is obtainedfrom a service provider. The memory may be fixed or removable.

The memory and the computer program instructions may be configured, withthe processor for the particular device, to cause a hardware apparatussuch as network element 710 and/or UE 720, to perform any of theprocesses described above (see, for example, FIG. 6). Therefore, incertain embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may beencoded with computer instructions or one or more computer program (suchas added or updated software routine, applet or macro) that, whenexecuted in hardware, may perform a process such as one of the processesdescribed herein. Computer programs may be coded by a programminglanguage, which may be a high-level programming language, such asobjective-C, C, C++, C#, Java, etc., or a low-level programminglanguage, such as a machine language, or assembler. Alternatively,certain embodiments of the invention may be performed entirely inhardware.

Furthermore, although FIG. 7 illustrates a system including a networkelement 710 and a UE 720, embodiments of the invention may be applicableto other configurations, and configurations involving additionalelements, as illustrated and discussed herein. For example, multipleuser equipment devices and multiple network elements may be present, orother nodes providing similar functionality, such as nodes that combinethe functionality of a user equipment and an access point, such as arelay node.

One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that theinvention as discussed above may be practiced with steps in a differentorder, and/or with hardware elements in configurations which aredifferent than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although theinvention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments, itwould be apparent to those of skill in the art that certainmodifications, variations, and alternative constructions would beapparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention, therefore,reference should be made to the appended claims.

1. A method, comprising: detecting, by a device, at least one advertisedvalue of non-cellular access, wherein the at least one advertised valueis received by the device over a cellular system information blockmessage; and extracting, from the at least one advertised value, atleast one cellular network insight for a cellular network condition.2.-5. (canceled)
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneadvertised value comprises a Wi-Fi service identifier, comprising atleast one of a basic service set identifier, service set identifier, ora homogenous extended service set identifier. 7.-22. (canceled)
 23. Anapparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memoryincluding computer program code, wherein the at least one memory andcomputer program code are configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus at least to detect, for a device, atleast one advertised value of non-cellular access, wherein the at leastone advertised value is received by the device over a cellular systeminformation block message; and extract, from the at least one advertisedvalue, at least one cellular network insight for a cellular networkcondition.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the detection isperformed by an application on the device, wherein the device comprisesa user equipment, and wherein the non-cellular access comprises Wi-Fi.25.-26. (canceled)
 27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at leastone memory and computer program code are configured to, with the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus at least to extract thecellular networking insight from the advertised value by a process thatcomprises at least one of extracting the cellular system informationfrom a SIB 17 message; or verifying the vendor specific attributeswithin the basic service set identifier matches a predetermined value.28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one advertised valuecomprises a Wi-Fi service identifier, comprising at least one of a basicservice set identifier, service set identifier, or a homogenous extendedservice set identifier.
 29. The apparatus according to claim 28, whereinthe basic service set identifier value comprises redundancy such thatthe basic service set identifier value is signed and verified by anapplication running on the device.
 30. The apparatus of claim 23,wherein rules for the extracting of the cellular network insight fromthe at least one advertised value are pre-provisioned onto the device orare downloaded from at least one of an internet server or thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) signaling.
 31. The apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein rules for the extracting of the cellular networkinsight from the at least one advertised value are a function of otherparameters comprising at least one of current cell identifier number,time of day, location, encryption key, or a seed.
 32. The apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the at least one memory and computer program code areconfigured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus atleast to use the extracted at least one cellular network insight tocause at least one application adaptation or to provide the at least onecellular network insight to at least one other application running onthe device or tethered to the device.
 33. The apparatus of claim 23,wherein the cellular network condition encoded in the at least onecellular network insight comprises a plurality of cellular communicationlinks.
 34. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the cellular networkcondition encoded in the at least one cellular network insight conveysthat the condition corresponds to at least one specific cellular networkaccess point and that the condition conveys at least one of a cellularaccess point congestion condition or an expected cellular networkthroughput condition.
 35. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein thecellular network condition encoded in the at least one cellular networkinsight conveys an authentication challenge value for management of aspecific cellular network access point.
 36. An apparatus, comprising: atleast one processor; and at least one memory including computer programcode, wherein the at least one memory and computer program code areconfigured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus atleast to detect a first level of network congestion on a cellularnetwork; and in response to the detection of the first level of networkcongestion, transmit a non-cellular identifier related to non-cellularaccess, wherein the non-cellular identifier comprises a basic serviceset identifier value over the cellular network, wherein the basicservice set identifier value encodes the first level of networkcongestion on the cellular network.
 37. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein the at least one memory and computer program code are configuredto, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:detect a second level of network congestion on the cellular network; andin response to the detection of the second level of network congestion,transmit a second basic service set identifier value over the cellularnetwork, wherein the second basic service set identifier value encodesthe second level of network congestion.
 38. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein the detection of the first level is performed by an access node,wherein the access node comprises at least one of an access point, abase station, or an evolved Node B, and wherein the non-cellular accesscomprises Wi-Fi. 39.-40. (canceled)
 41. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein the cellular network congestion information is appended to areserved vendor specific attribute, which is then further conveyed overthe basic service set identifier value.
 42. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein at least one signal strength threshold is advertised over thecellular system, wherein the signal strength threshold instructssubscriber devices to substantially ignore the basic service setidentifier value, and wherein this instruction further comprises atleast one of setting the low signal strength threshold to be higher thanthe high signal strength threshold; setting both the low and high signalstrength threshold to have the highest possible value; or setting boththe low and high signal strength threshold to have the lowest possiblevalue.
 43. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the at least one memoryand computer program code are configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus at least to determine whether to changean advertised tag value which is advertised over the cellular system,wherein this determination comprises at least one of comparing apreviously advertised level of network congestion to the updated levelof network congestion being advertised or comparing a time of a last tagvalue change with the current time, wherein this determination furthercomprises, determining to change the tag value in response to at leastone of: determining that the change in the network congestion level isgreater than a threshold; or determining that the time subsequent to thelast tag value change was greater than a threshold.
 44. The apparatus ofclaim 43, wherein a change in the tag value causes at least onesubscriber device to additionally receive and decode additional systeminformation block messages. 45.-68. (canceled)